To Catch a Witch [Spells of Seduction 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Jessica Frost Page A

yards to the right, Merlin saw it. “It’s Stonehenge.”
    Jacob ran to the first upright stone with quickened speed. Where he got the strength to do so, Merlin couldn’t figure. Perhaps it was joy and hope that made Jacob find inner strength to run so quickly. No matter the reason, it really didn’t matter. What did matter was that they had found it.
    Pondora laughed as she arrived at the stone beside Jacob a couple of minutes later. Jacob turned around, hugged and lifted her, spinning her around. She screamed with laughter.
    Merlin couldn’t help laughing himself as he walked closer to them, though he was still many yards away. It felt like they had found paradise. All they had been waiting for had fallen into place. Soon their problems would be a thing of the past, and they could live a happily ever after.
    But like all good things, their short-lived jubilation came to a complete and utter halt when a cold wind blew around the stones. A chill of terror crawled up Merlin’s spine. It felt like someone had just walked over his grave.
    When an ear-cracking cackle followed, he knew this wasn’t paradise, but rather hell.
     
    * * * *
     
    The searing pain in his ears from the banshee-like cackle made Jacob almost fall backward with Pondora in his arms. He let go of her waist, and she landed on her feet, turning to look in the same direction he did.
    “Serona!” she shouted.
    A thin woman with black hair slicked back, wearing a long, black, feathered gown stood a few yards away from them. Her pronounced left black eyebrow lifted, and a twisted smile spread on the same side of her face. Jacob thought if a raven were ever to take on human form, it would look like her.
    “Hello, Velona. Surprised to see me?” the evil sorceress said.
    Pondora didn’t speak but pinched her lips into a frown.
    Jacob looked at her and said in a low voice, “Why did she call you Velona?”
    Pondora gazed at him, and her angry frown changed to an expression of shame. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted.
    “Because that is her name, simpleton.” The sorceress crossed her arms as she stared at him. She then looked at Pondora again. “Really, Velona, why haven’t you told them who you really are? Why do you waste your time with these mortals?”
    Jacob’s mouth fell open, and he listened in disbelief. She was indeed an immortal!
    “You’ve been listening to us,” she said.
    “Of course, as I always do. Thanks to the spying glass your friends made, they opened the portal you blocked years ago. Now that I found you, Velona, I didn’t dare risk losing you again.”
    Pondora moved in front of Jacob. “Fine, now that you found me, let them go. They are innocents and mustn’t be harmed.”
    The cackling laughter returned. “Your soft heart had always been your undoing, Velona. These innocents have seen me and know too much now. They must die as you will. But first I must have your powers before I kill them.” She turned to look at Merlin.
    Because of the connection through the dream spell last night, Serona must have seen the orb Merlin held and knew it contained Pondora’s powers. Jacob turned to look at Merlin and saw that he pointed his wand in the air and was chanting some sort of spell. He aimed his wand at Serona. Lightning sparked on the tip and shot fast at her.
    She held her hand up and formed a transparent shield before her, which deflected the lightning energy and sent it downward to the earth. The grass turned black as it burned from the intense heat bombarding it.
    Serona looked at Pondora. “Really, how they trapped you in the first place, I will never know. Their petty tricks are hardly magic.” The evil sorceress waved her hand.
    Jacob’s heart sank. He knew the spell Merlin cast. It was the most powerful attack spell Orion had ever taught them. He himself knew of nothing more powerful, and the sorceress deflected it with ease as if it was just a nuisance.
    Jacob had never seen any sorcerer or